


Ace and Krypto

by chrissy_sky, TerraTenshi



Series: Rescue Tim [11]
Category: DCU - Comicverse, DCU Animated
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Puppies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-22
Updated: 2012-07-22
Packaged: 2017-11-10 11:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/465524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrissy_sky/pseuds/chrissy_sky, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraTenshi/pseuds/TerraTenshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conner brings a surprise home for Tim. (Takes place directly after "Grace.")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ace and Krypto

**Author's Note:**

> Again, sorry for the delay.

Title: Ace and Krypto

Summary: (Direct sequel to Grace.) Kon brings home a present for Tim.

~~~

Conner took Tim straight to bed after his session. The other teen was exhausted after all that talking, and the memories it had evoked, but they sat talking for some time before Tim eventually fell asleep.

“A dog might be fun, right?” Tim mumbled tiredly, on the edge of slumber.

Conner pet his hair soothingly. “Yeah.”

He still wasn’t sure what to do with all he had learned. He certainly couldn’t go out and find the Joker to beat the living hell out of him—Nightwing had taken care of that. As tempting as it was to scour the city and completely obliterate the corpse, which would probably be in an unmarked grave by this time, it would accomplish nothing. Tim would still be hurting _and nothing Conner could do would fix that._

Except maybe one thing.

That was why he left the other boy alone and went to find his parents. They were talking quietly, but they fell silent when Conner joined them. Sitting beside them on the couch, he took a deep breath and told them about what he learned.

“Conner,” he father broke in mildly, “you need to consider Tim’s privacy before telling us things. You were there with Tim because he trusts you.”

Conner flushed hotly, squirming a bit in guilt. “I know, and I won’t do it again, and it’s not really my place,” he was babbling, “but what if we could find the puppies? What if they’re still alive?”

“Gotham is a rough place, Con,” Jason pointed out, gentle practicality. “There’s no guarantee.”

“I _know_. If we don’t find them, or they’re dead, then we just don’t say anything to Tim. Not now, maybe not ever. But if they _are_ …”

Conner watched his fathers exchange a look full of understanding. Lex’s lips twitched.

“I always wanted a dog. Knew better than to ask for one, but wanted one nonetheless.”

Jason gave him one of those soft grins that were reserved just for Lex. “Alright. It can’t hurt to look, I guess.” He reached across the table for his small tablet. “Get Dick please.”

Conner found his uncle in Lena’s bedroom, where the man sat on the small girl’s pink bed, getting his long hair braided with painstaking care. He barely held in laughter at the sight.

A testament to how great Dick was with the kids, he left the braid and the ribbons in his hair even as he followed Conner back to the living room. “What’s up?”

“Con has an idea.” Jason told him about the puppies without preamble. 

Dick turned a frown on the teen. “Kid, you really don’t repeat something someone says in therapy, it’s not cool.”

Conner ducked, red faced. “I know.”

“We already scolded him,” Lex put in smoothly.

“Alright.” Then the frown was gone and Dick ruffled Conner’s hair, just like always. “S’good idea anyway. You’re like your dad like that.” Lex made an interested noise and Dick grinned at him. “I meant with the presents, Lex.”

Jason was still doing something on his tablet. “Play nice, you two.”

“I was. Unless you don't want your son knowing you used to argue about closets.”

“Closets?” Conner echoed, confused. He had never heard about this.

“It wasn’t serious.” Lex sighed as the teen just became even more confused. “Jason wanted more closet space.”

“And you argued? Over _closet space?”_ It sounded so ridiculous it had to be true, but he had trouble visualizing his fathers arguing about this particular thing. 

“He couldn't find his last remaining batarangs and didn’t want to make more. I was tired from work and the flight here.” Lex shrugged, not quite making eye contact, which was how his son knew he was actually embarrassed. “It was our only fight, at the time. Darling, did you ever find those things?”

“Don’t think so,” Jason mumbled absently. “Broke down and finally made some new ones. After we made up. We weren’t _really_ fighting about closet space, anyway.”

Lex smiled faintly. “That’s true.”

Before Conner could ask for clarification, Jason asked, “Did Tim describe the dogs in more detail?”

“Not really,” Conner answered. “Just that one was black and the other was white. Oh, and the white one might be injured.”

He leaned over Jason’s shoulder from behind the couch, seeing that he was searching through websites for Gotham’s many shelters. He bit his lip, wishing he could be more helpful, because there were a lot more than he had expected. 

“We think they were there when Joker grabbed him?” Dick asked. 

Conner nodded. “That’s what he said.”

Dick hummed. “Try petfinder, they have more search capability.”

Eventually, with both Conner and Dick hovering over him, Jason pulled up a picture of two puppies that were found in the location they thought Tim might have been kidnapped. Conner started to get excited, but Jason was still hesitant.

“It could be them. Looks like only the black one is up for adoption though. Since the white one is injured.”

“No…” Conner looked at Lex worriedly, because surely his father could fix this.

“There are rules about adopting animals, kid,” Dick tried to sooth.

He looked at the older man stubbornly. “But Tim needs them.”

Jason offered to call the shelter, which just seemed to make Dick more worried.

“Seriously, guys. I’m sure he’s going to be adopted by a nice home, and you can still get the black one—”

Conner glowered at his uncle. “No! Tim needs them both.”

Lex took charge, taking hold of Jason’s phone after he had already dialed the number. “I’ll see what I can do, Conner.”

Conner relaxed slightly; his father always kept the promises he made to his children. He knew there wasn’t much that Lex Luthor couldn’t do. Conner believed in him.

“Dick’s just trying to tell you not to get your hopes up, Conner,” Jason said softly. “Don’t yell at him.”

Conner flushed. “Sorry, Dick. I’m just worried, I guess.”

“Worried about what?” the long haired man asked.

“Tim. I just want to do this for him. He doesn’t even have to know it was me. I’m not doing it for thanks. Just… want him to have this one thing. He probably feels he doesn’t have a lot of control over things in his life right now, right? The puppies would show him that it wasn’t all for nothing, that he can still do something.”

It sounded better in his head than it did coming out loud, but somehow it earned him smiles from all the adults.

“It’s okay, kid.” Dick mussed his hair again, which made Conner smile back, relieved.

They listened as Lex spoke on the phone. He had his Luthor voice on, insistently sweet talking whoever was on the other end of the line, which made Conner feel more hopeful. If he father didn’t sound irritated with the people at the shelter, then that had to be good.

Lex ended the conversation after scribbling a note on the first available notepad he found, giving the mobile back to Jason. 

Jason took it back without a word. “Well?”

In answer, Lex pointed one long finger at his son. “You are going to be doing chores for a very long time to pay me back for the substantial donation I just had to make.”

Conner nodded fervently. What else could he do in the face of that? Chores didn’t matter, he’d do as many as it took if he could do this one thing for Tim. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now you and whoever you can convince to go with you are going to go pick up some puppy supplies and in about half-an-hour you're going to go, in a _car_ , and pick the puppies up.”

“I can go with him,” Dick offered.

Lex nodded. “There will be some paperwork for you to fill out, Conner, and they're going to be your responsibility.”

“Okay, sir.”

“Good, now shoo.”

Dick led him downstairs with an arm slung over his shoulders, and they talked about many things on the way to the pet store, the acrobat absently tugging the braid and ribbons loose. Conner thought it was the most that Jason’s brother had ever said to him, and he couldn’t say why that was, but it made him glad. 

Maybe it was just the situation. Maybe it was because they both cared about Tim so much, and had a common ground with one another because of that.

They talked about Tim never having a boyfriend before, which was something that Conner couldn't say definitively just from his sense of smell. Full Kryptons could. All Conner could tell was that Tim hadn't been with anyone lately.   
  
“Must be another one of those Krypton things,” Dick mumbled, looking as embarrassed by the subject as Conner felt.

“I guess.”

“Is it just Tim, or can you do that to everyone?”

Conner flushed. “You saw Kori earlier.”

He had never seen Dick turn that color before. It was a dark red that spread up to his ears. “Uh…”

“She’s seeing Raven now,” Conner told him.

“I know. It’s… complicated.”

“You almost got married, I know.”

“Yeah. Just, issues.”

Conner nodded. “But you react the most to Barbara.”

Dick’s expression took on a decidedly sardonic look, despite the blush. “Now that’s _really_ complicated.”

“Because she stayed in Gotham?” Conner guessed.

“No. Well, yeah, kinda.” Dick shrugged, fingering a squeaky toy. It was pink and shaped like a fish. “So you can do that with everybody?”

Conner shrugged awkwardly. “It’s easier with people I’m around a lot. Mostly the family.” Because he didn’t have any friends outside the family anymore. It had been years since Hawaii. 

Dick brushed his shoulder playfully. “I’m gonna introduce you to new people sometime. Just don’t go all Sherlock Holmes on them, okay?”

Conner made a face at him. “That’s _not_ what I was doing. It’s not deduction, it’s more like intuition.” It only mattered since he lived with people that were actually very good detectives. Even if Jason was still more inclined to hit first, ask questions later.

“Pretty impressive, though.”

Dick paid for the supplies as Conner was still trying to get out his credit card. “Don’t tell your dad.”

Conner smiled and nodded, not bothering to point out that he probably had more money than his uncle. An inner voice that sounded a lot like his father said that would be rude.

By the time they reached the shelter, Conner was almost vibrating with excitement, but he held it in for the most part, calmly filling out the paperwork. Eventually, his patience was rewarded when a young lady brought out the crate with the two puppies inside.

They were huddled together, the dark one hovering protectively over his injured companion, and Conner melted on sight. “Aww…”

He stuck his fingers through the tiny bars on the door. “Ready to go home, boys?”

The injured white puppy licked his fingers and he melted more. The black one sniffed his fingers cautiously before giving them a lick, as if deeming Conner safe.

The teen grinned. “Tim is gonna love you guys.”

Dick touched his shoulder, grinning. “All set?”

Conner nodded and followed him back to the car. He rode in the backseat with the crate, to be sure the puppies were secure for the trip home. They were quiet in the shelter, but as the car started to move, they made curious and anxious whining noises. Conner gave them his fingers once again to lick, which seemed to help a little. They only really relaxed when Dick drove into the parking lot and brought the car to a stop.

Conner carried them carefully upstairs, noting that they seemed a little less frightened by the elevator ride up, but they looked around nervously. The ride was smooth but it was as though they could still tell they were moving upward. 

Lex was waiting for them when they returned, but Jason wasn’t in sight.

“We got them,” Conner announced.

“So I see.” Lex came over to get a better look. The black puppy yapped at the bald man and Lex offered his fingers for it to sniff. “I won’t hurt you.”

The black puppy sniffed and sneezed twice.

Conner smiled, thinking the puppies were adorable. The black one reminded him of Tim the most. “Where’s Jase?”

“With Tim,” his father said. “He woke up a few minutes ago.”

His stomach plummeted. “What happened?”

“A nightmare. It's alright, but he's been asking for you.”

Setting the crate down gently, Conner hurried to Tim’s room. Tim hadn’t reacted to his missing presence in awhile, so he had forgotten all about it earlier when he got the ‘Get Tim Some Puppies’ idea. All he could think about at the time was how Tim had sounded open to the idea of having a dog. 

In the bedroom, Jason sat on the bed, his wheelchair nearby as he rubbed Tim’s back. The smaller teen, who had recovered enough to curl up as tight as his skinny limbs could go, was doing just that, pressed against Jason’s side. 

“Tim?” Conner spoke softly.

Tim sniffed, rubbed his eyes conspicuously before raising his head. “Conner?”

Knowing he had made the smaller teen cry made him feel worse. He quickly slid behind him, curling around Tim’s back to cuddle him. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone that long.”

“You were gone.” Tim’s voice was soft. “Thought something happened.”

“No, everything’s okay,” he assured. “I was getting you a surprise.”

“Surprise?”

 

“A gift. Two gifts.” He continued cuddling, pressing a kiss to the soft skin of Tim’s neck. “Sorry.”

Tim grasped hold of his hand. “S’okay. Just another nightmare.”

They sat together, holding onto each other, the only other sound in the room the faint whirring of the desktop, the monitor off. But it was only something that Conner noticed out of his periphery because Tim started tracing his hand in both of his smaller ones, finding his lifeline and all the callouses. 

Then Tim lifted his hand and kissed it, making the meta teen blush.

“Wanted to tell you something earlier,” Tim mumbled against his fingers, his lips soft on Conner’s skin. “You want to date me, right?”

Con flushed and nodded. Tim seemed to have forgotten that Jason was still there, but he didn’t want to interrupt to remind him.

Tim lowered his hand to his lap, still holding on. “I’m not going to be much of a boyfriend for awhile, I don’t think. I like you a lot. We can, if you wanted, if we can take things slowly.”

Conner beamed, his heart beating fast, though all they did was hold hands. “Okay.”

He looked over Tim’s head; Jason was smiling too. The redhead rolled his eyes, an expression that screamed— _ugh, teenagers_ —and Conner rolled his eyes at his stepfather right back.

-

Eventually, he took Tim to see his presents, carrying him out to the living room. The smaller teen’s head darted up as soon as he heard the puppies yipping softly, still within the carrier. Blue eyes stared wide at the box and Conner began to grow worried that he’d done a really bad thing, bringing this reminder of Tim’s attack to the very place the other teen was beginning to feel safe, before he spoke.

“You found them.”

“Yeah.” He sat Tim down on the couch and brought the puppies to him. 

Tim smiled tentatively as the puppies were settled gingerly in his lap. He held them securely in place as they smelled his clothes and skin. “Are they okay?” he asked, fingering the small cast on the white one.

“That one has a broken leg,” Conner admitted. “That was as bad as it got, thankfully. They were at a shelter. I brought them home for you.” He didn’t want to mention the others had helped, not now, because it would then be obvious that he had divulged to them the topics of Tim’s therapy session. (It still wasn't about getting Tim's gratitude.)  


Though inevitably, Tim would figure it out on his own.

A tear trickled down the side of Tim’s cheek, which he wiped away hurriedly. “Thank you.” He giggled tiredly as the white puppy leaned up to kiss his face.

Conner held him close, mindful of both Tim’s injuries and the white puppy’s. 

“I don’t know what to call them.”

“Well, we can figure out names later?”

“Okay.” He got no warning as Tim leaned up, kissing his cheek. Over Tim’s shoulder, he saw Dick gape in shock. Conner grinned impishly, elated by the willing gesture from his mate.

They set up the puppy bed and their food dishes in the bedroom, with some training mats set up on the floor of the bathroom. Tim wanted to keep an eye on them until they were better and Conner didn’t mind. Conner let Tim do most of this, watching him and the puppies explore their new environment. 

Tim gingerly sat on the floor to play with them, Conner pulling their toys out of the plastic bag and removing the price tags before use. A squeak ball would cause the white puppy to yip, while the black one stood at attention, looking intent with his dark eyes. When thrown, both puppies ran after it and, though the black one caught it, he willingly handed it over to his white companion.

Conner laughed. “Very chivalrous.”

Tim smiled like in agreement. “I think it’s sweet.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Dick poked his head into the open doorway. "Hey, you should name that one Ace the Bathound. And the other one... Ten, Bathound's sidekick.”

Tim made a face. “Dick.”

“Too cheesy?”

“Too much like a certain criminal ‘family.’”

Conner rubbed the serious black puppy’s head. “He does look kind of like an Ace.”

“But we can’t name our puppy ‘Ten.’ It would be like naming our kid ‘Apple.’”

Conner felt elated by all the use of the word ‘our.’ He had to contain a huge grin, ducking his head to focus on the puppies. 

Dick giggled and ducked back out, making Tim sigh. 

“You should name this one, since the black one is clearly Ace.”

“Would you do it?” Tim asked shyly.

Conner smiled shyly back, lifting his eyes. “Sure?”

Tim nodded. “If Ace is my side of the family the other should be yours.”

“Okay. Lessee…” 

“Something with an ‘L?’” Tim teased lightly. “Or something ending in ‘El’ maybe?”

“Oh.” Conner’s face and mood plummeted before he could think otherwise. Raven always said he showed too much emotion on his face, which was dangerous in a fight, but he couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry,” Tim said, eyeing him. “Did I say something wrong?”

Conner tried to smile, tried to hide the embarrassment and shame with a shrug. “No, nothing wrong. I'm just not part of the El family.”

Tim was outright frowning now, exactly like his parents reacted when he could never hide anything from them either. “I thought you and Supergirl got along?” 

Conner flushed. “We do, but Supes made it clear that I don’t belong, so…”

“He isn't the only El. He doesn't get to decide.”

He wasn’t sure how to argue with that perfectly reasonable statement and relaxed when his father came into the room. Lex was silent and Conner only knew he was there when he felt a familiar touch on his head. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. 

“Kryptonians seemed to have been a bit like pack animals,” Lex said. “The eldest members of the family are usually seen as the alphas. Conner normally defers in most matters to Jason and I, because that's how he sees us.”

“So Clark’s word is law,” Tim said slowly. Conner almost asked how Tim knew his real name, but then remembered—his mate had once figured out the identities of Batman and Robin. Clark only wore those dorky glasses. It wasn’t hard.

Lex made an affirmative sound. “Conner understands that that isn't necessarily true, but it's how he feels. Right?”

Conner nodded with a blush, still leaning into the man’s hand. 

Tim was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “Is Con older than Kara?”

“No, Kara’s a little older physically. In actual age, Conner is much younger.”

“Doesn’t that make her Alpha?”

Conner answered him this time. “Kinda. If we’re just talking about the two of us.”

“So if she accepts you, then you are an El.”

Conner looked up at his dad silently for permission. Lex was smiling.

“He has a point,” the bald man said.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Once, he had wanted to be accepted by Superman. He had gotten acceptance from somewhere else entirely. He didn’t want to lose that. “I still want to be a Luthor-Todd.”

“You always will be.”

“Okay.” Relieved, he cuddled Tim as the smaller boy leaned into him. “Um. Krypto?”

“Sure,” Tim said against the collar of his shirt.

Krypto licked Tim’s fingers and he started petting Krypto’s small, fuzzy belly. The puppy’s ribs showed a little through some mild malnourishment. 

“He’s adorable.”

Conner kissed Tim’s hair softly. “Like you.” 

He felt the other boy's face grow warmer against his neck, but Tim didn’t pull away.

They played with Ace and Krypto some more before the puppies grew tired. Conner helped them and Tim get into bed, lifting them up with his TTK. This made Krypto yip in excitement, startled, until Tim’s petting calmed him again.

“Wanna sleep with them tonight?” Conner asked softly.

Tim frowned lightly. “They might fall off.”

“Sure? I can sleep on the floor so that you have room.”

Tim nodded. “Don’t want to risk it. Besides, the floor isn’t as comfortable.”

Conner almost said he’d slept in worse places while in Hawaii, but he didn’t. Generally, Hawaii had too many bad memories for him. 

He placed the puppies in their bed, petting them goodnight before getting into bed with Tim. 

Tim snuggled down into the covers. “Feels like all I do is sleep,” he griped tiredly.

“Sleep is good. Healing.”

“Mm, too much.” He rubbed his cheek against the pillow.

“We can go for a walk tomorrow,” Conner promised.

Tim hummed. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” He hooked an arm gently around Tim, holding him close. 

End of this part. Thanks for reading! 


End file.
